Have India-Pakistan Confidence Building Measures Reached A Plateau?
October 10, 2007 The Indian media recently carried reports of angry protestors at Attari, smashing into pulp tomato cartons from trucks on their way to Pakistan. The protestors were porters who had till now been engaged in trans-shipment of goods and commodities as head loads across the border, since loaded vehicles were not allowed to cross over. The significance of this maiden movement of loaded trucks across the border was lost in the sympathy generated for the porters who could become redundant at the border check point and thus lose their means of livelihood. That such an arrangement as this existed between the two countries does not do much good for their reputation in this age of globalization, which is forcing nations to evolve integrated transportation and logistics systems for efficient and uninterrupted movement of goods worldwide. The proposal to allow loaded trucks to cross over was on the table for a long time and had been mired in procedural wrangles owing to security co
